Your first home
First home buyer planner
Find out what you can really afford in Mumbai — loan, down payment and every cost on top — then follow the checklist to the keys.
1 Your income
Monthly take-home (household)—
Existing EMIs (car, personal loans)—
Share of income you're happy to spend on EMI—
2 Your savings and loan
Savings you can put in—
Interest rate—
Tenure—
3 The flat
BuyingParking—
Interiors—
Your road to the keys
Progress0 / 10
- Check your CIBIL score (750+ gets the best rate)
- Get loan pre-approval from 2–3 banks
- Fix your all-in budget with this planner
- Shortlist on carpet area, not built-up
- Check the MahaRERA registration and project status
- Visit at night, at rush hour and in the rain
- Hire your own lawyer for a title search
- Negotiate parking, floor rise and payment plan
- Pay stamp duty and register the agreement
- Society transfer, share certificate, utility names
Ticks are saved on this device only.
What first-timers should know
The costs on top of the price
| Cost | How much |
|---|---|
| Stamp duty | 6% of agreement value · 5% if a woman buys |
| Registration | 1%, max ₹30,000 |
| GST | 5% — under-construction only; ready flats pay none |
| Parking | ₹3–10 L, often separate — negotiate |
| Floor rise | ₹20–100 per sq ft per floor — negotiable |
| Interiors | ₹5–8 L basic · ₹12–25 L full modular |
| Society, legal, moving | ₹1–3 L together |
PMAY subsidy — does it apply in Mumbai?
The old CLSS scheme closed in 2022. Under PMAY-Urban 2.0 the interest subsidy is for families earning up to ₹9 L a year, buying a first home worth up to ₹35 L with a loan up to ₹25 L — 4% on the first ₹8 L, up to ₹1.8 L. No one in the family can own a pucca house. The planner checks this for you.
Tax benefits
- Section 24(b): up to ₹2 L a year on interest for a self-occupied home.
- Section 80C: up to ₹1.5 L on principal, plus stamp duty and registration in the year you buy.
- Both are only in the old tax regime. The new regime gives no deduction for a self-occupied home.
- Section 80EEA (extra ₹1.5 L) ended for loans after March 2022.
Ready or under-construction?
Ready flats cost more per sq ft but carry no GST, no delay risk, and you see exactly what you buy. Under-construction is 10–20% cheaper with staged payments, but adds 5% GST and possession risk. For a first home, ready-to-move is usually the safer pick.
10 mistakes to avoid
- Budgeting only the listing price — add 10–18%.
- House-hunting before loan pre-approval.
- Pre-launch deals with no MahaRERA registration.
- Comparing built-up area instead of carpet.
- One sunny Sunday visit — go at night, at rush hour, in the rain.
- Using the builder's lawyer instead of your own (₹15–25 K title search).
- Ignoring maintenance (₹4–15 per sq ft a month).
- Not checking the builder's delivery record — see the builder report card.
- Rushing because "only 2 units left".
- Forgetting the commute — 90 minutes each way is a month of your life a year.
